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Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, has commended Saudi universities for their role in heritage education.
“All innovative projects presented by university students have won awards. This shows the Kingdom’s high potential of urban heritage development,” he said while addressing a ceremony for the distribution of Sultan bin Salman Urban Heritage Award.
The ceremony was organized by Turath charity association in cooperation with Dammam University, featured in the Second Urban Heritage Forum held under the aegis of Eastern Province Gov. Prince Muhammad bin Fahd.
The SCTA president thanked Prince Muhammad for attending the ceremony that reflected “his concern for national heritage in general and the urban heritage in particular, and his support for the heritage preservation.”
Prince Sultan, who is also president of Turath and head of the award’s supreme committee, said this year, the committee had noticed a substantial increase in participation and attendance thanks to the efforts exerted by the award’s patron and organizers.
Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Rubaish, president of Dammam University, commended Prince Sultan’s keenness to preserve the Kingdom’s heritage. “This award bespeaks Prince Sultan’s concern for preserving urban heritage as an outstanding feature of our national identity and Islamic Arab civilization.”
Usamah bin Usamah Al-Guhari, general-secretary of Turath, noted the importance of the award due to its deep civilizational and historical interests. He thanked the SCTA for its interest in urban heritage development.
During the ceremony, Prince Sultan declared the acceptance by Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, of the Sultan bin Salman Urban Heritage Award for his lifetime achievement.
“The lifetime achievement award has been honored by acceptance of Prince Salman,” the SCTA chief said, and thanked the crown prince for his efforts in developing urban heritage sites in Riyadh during the past 50 years.
“Prince Salman’s concern for the promotion of urban heritage wasn’t limited to Riyadh, but it was nationwide and gained international applause. That reflects his pride of the Islamic Arab civilization and the depth of its influence and importance of its cultural, social and economic dimensions.”
The crown prince will receive the Prince Sultan Lifetime Award during a ceremony at the Riyadh National Museum on Dec. 18. The Urban Heritage Preservation Award went to Al-Hafuf’s Beit Al-Baia’s preservation project and Al-Namas heritage village restoration project. The Human Dimension Award was won by Hufouf development project of Al-Ahsa municipality, while the Economic Heritage Project Award went to Tarut heritage compound project, Al-Qateef municipality, and Al-Jazeera association.
The Urban Heritage Research Award went to a research on benefiting from artistic heritage of Dhi-Ain village for developing and reviving traditional handicrafts by Al-Sayed Saleh bin Abdul Allah Saleh Al Zahrani.
Meanwhile, a Chinese delegation recently visited Masmak Museum in Riyadh. Nasser Al-Oraifi, director of the museum briefed the delegates about its content and the role played by King Abdul Aziz to unify the Kingdom.